dpa
Beirut
Israeli combat jets once again struck targets in Beirut, including a residential area just a few kilometres from the city centre, a DPA correspondent in the Lebanese capital reported on Sunday.
Church bells rang in a Christian district to warn of the attacks, prompting residents to seek refuge in nearby churches. Lebanon, unlike Israel, lacks both air raid shelters and an official warning system.
Eyewitnesses reported loud explosions, followed by plumes of thick black smoke rising above houses in the area, with the smell of smoke spreading to surrounding neighbourhoods.
There were no initial reports of death or injury.
According to the Israeli military, the air force bombed command centres and other facilities belonging to the Iran-allied Hezbollah militia in the affected district.
The civilian population had been warned before the attacks began, it said.
Israel is engaged in a war not only in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian Hamas group but also with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah said it is attacking Israel in support of Hamas which carried out a massacre in Israel on October 7 last year resulting in 1,200 deaths.
Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground offensive in the coastal strip as it seeks to eliminate Hamas. More than 43,000 people have been killed people so far, according to the Hamas-run health authority.
Since September, Israel’s military has massively expanded its attacks in Lebanon, where it says it is seeking to push back Hezbollah from its northern border so that residents can return to their homes.
Fighter planes have bombed targets across the country and frequently in the suburbs south of Beirut. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon so far, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.